About

Windward School is dedicated to producing well-balanced, creative individuals prepared to take on the ever-changing challenges of our world. Our students explore their multiple interests in a dynamic and academically rigorous environment while growing within a nurturing community with the guidance of passionate faculty and supportive classmates.

At the forefront of educational models and practices, Windward School strives to innovate and offer students educational opportunities that are unique, engaging, and relevant to life in the 21st century.

Programs

Fundamental to the Windward School philosophy is the belief that secondary education must engage more than the mind alone. Windward’s comprehensive and rigorous course of study is complemented by opportunities to participate in a wide range of extra-curricular experiences that foster further growth and development.

The School hopes its graduates will go forth from Windward with a strong sense of personal integrity, self-confidence, and pride in their particular talents, inspired by learning, and prepared for college and for life in the 21st century.

Innovation

Windward was founded as a school in which innovation would, by design, always be front and center. The pursuit and implementation of new ideas has been a hallmark of the school for more than four decades, resulting in a relentless search for new and better ideas that have made Windward into a leading independent school and a model for academic progress.

Community

Partnerships are at the heart of Windward School, whether among alumni members of the Windward Network, active volunteers of the Parent Guild, or civic organizations in our neighborhood of Mar Vista.

Windward strives to create a welcoming, inclusive environment that encourages participation in the life of the school while also offering opportunity for meaningful involvement and interaction with local friends and groups.

Giving

Since its founding more than four decades ago, Windward has continued to develop and prosper thanks to those community members, volunteers, foundations, and other friends who have given generously to ensure the continuous advancement of the school.

Whether giving of time or talent, there are many ways to make a difference in support of Windward’s students and ensure the future growth of our learning community.

Global Programs

Mission Statement

Windward School strives to prepare our students for effective participation in the global community. Through academic, co-curricular, and extracurricular opportunities to learn about different perspectives and cultures, students will utilize 21st-century skills, such as inquiry, collaboration, communication, leadership, and problem-solving. In doing so, Windward will ensure that it remains a welcoming and inclusive community whose graduates are knowledgeable, compassionate, and prepared citizens of the world. Beyond these goals for all students, Windward offers the designation of "Global Scholar" to those students who choose to deepen the global focus that is part of Windward's overall program.

Windward Global Education Goals

Students will exhibit cross-cultural understanding and appreciation of the commonalities and differences between peoples and regions.

Students will develop the linguistic, cultural, and technological skills necessary to productively engage with other peoples, cultures, regions, and economies.

Through global awareness, students will realize their own place in the world as global citizens.

Through community awareness, partnerships, and leadership initiatives, students will demonstrate active service and meaningful practice in the promotion of equity and justice, locally and globally.

Students will apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills in a variety of contexts in order to effectively confront and address global issues.

Students will demonstrate curiosity, adaptability, and initiative in order to be both contributors to and leaders in a global society.

Innovative Interdisciplinary Work

Global Studies Honors

The purpose of the Global Studies course will be to promote an understanding in students of their role as responsible global citizens. Students will use 21st-century tools to explore the complexity of current global topics as they develop as independent problem-solvers. The course uses Windward’s active learning model and incorporates methodologies such as design thinking, case studies, seminar discussions, and collaborative problem-solving. As a model of interdisciplinary learning, Global Studies Honors uses a cross-curricular team teaching model, with course instructors including members of the History, Science, and World Language Departments.

Course topics vary from year to year, but include a subset of the following: cultural identity and awareness, poverty, global climate change, water, biodiversity, sustainability and social justice, roots of political conflict, geopolitics, global economic interdependencies, resource allocation, and the geography of resource utilization.

Global Partnerships & Collaboration

Partner Schools

Windward has a number of partner schools throughout the world, providing students and faculty the opportunity for cross-cultural communication, curricular integration, and cultural immersion. Currently, we work with:

Through the NAIS Challenge 20/20 program, the AP Spanish students work with students from the John F. Kennedy School of Queretero, Mexico to identify and address a common problem. The year-long collaboration has allowed the students from both schools to tackle a real problem while forming cross-cultural communication and understanding.